Drizzly, cool day
Bracing myself for muggy heat, I pulled on my grungy gardening clothes and my straw hat, took a deep breath, and opened the back door, prepared to do battle against the weeds and jungly plants. Ahhh. It was actually comfortable outside at 9 am this morning. And it’s remained so all day long, thanks to a little rain that blew in from the north in the mid-afternoon. All morning, the clouds kept the brutal summer sun at bay, and the humidity was lower than usual. I did still have to bathe myself in mosquito repellant, though.
The buckets of rain that we’ve received this month (many inches, I think, though I was out of town in early July, so I’m not exactly sure) had wrought a jungle out of the garden. I attacked the front garden as soon as I returned from my trip, but I’d put off the back garden way too long. I almost needed a machete to hack through vines twining up into trees, enormous but tired salvias, and tree-weeds coming up in all the beds.
After nearly five hours of work, the plants are neatly trimmed for fall bloom, vines are twining around their supports, not their neighbors, weeds have been pulled, and it looks like a garden again. And by the way, it’s an amazing 78 degrees outside right now, at 4 pm on a mid-July day in Austin.
Here are some images from my time in the garden this morning.
Black-eyed Susans, wet with rain
Metal mariachis playing to a full house of black-eyed Susans. That’s blue mistflower growing up between them, before I trimmed it back.
An anole watched me work for a few minutes before darting into the mistflower.
More rudbeckias by the back patio
I spotted this bright-green cicada on the flameleaf sumac. It seems to have just molted out of its nymph “skin.”
‘Helvola’ water lily
Turk’s cap (Malvaviscus arboreus ), one of the favorite nectar plants for my resident hummingbird
The trimmed-back garden and shed as seen through the trellis screen
White Turk’s cap
Inland sea oats (Chasmanthium latifolium ). The oats, ripening from summer’s apple green to fall’s toasty brown, dangle from bent stems like earrings.
Here’s a wider shot. They’re growing under a young yaupon holly, and they’re a bit lanky after so much rain. But I couldn’t cut them back with all those lovely oats dangling from them.
Cigar plant (Cuphea ignea ) and bottle tree
When the sun came out for a few minutes, the rudbeckias glowed incandescently.
I hope that, wherever you are, you had a lovely day in the garden too.
Alas, I spent a day at work indoors, as usual. But tonight my night bloomer is blooming so all thought of work is forgotten. Your flowers are sure enjoying the rain and cool of Austin. Lovely as always.
Carol at May Dreams Gardens, where the night-bloomer blooms again!
One of the joys of self-employment—a day off to garden. The kids entertained themselves well too, and even helped for a while.
I’m looking forward to your night-bloomer pics. —Pam
This was a thoroughly satisfying post!
Glad to hear it, Chuck! —Pam
Lovely photos, the cicada one is outstanding and I sure do like your bottle tree.
Thanks. That bottle tree gets a lot of comments. If I was really brave, I’d have it in the front yard. 😉 —Pam
Pam: The garden looks great and your pictures are artful! The cicada is one to frame! The EM is going to Amsterdam on the way to Tanzania in Nov. It must be the same tour group! I am still not sorry to stay home but I am enjoying your trip very much! Didn’t garden today but work was at a garden so it was a great day!
Thanks, Layanee. Regarding the EM’s trip, many tour groups follow the same route in Tanzania, so he may not be traveling with the same one I did. But if he is, I know he’ll have a great time. —Pam
I had a cicada picture today too, yours is so much better. When I tried to get closer it flew away, I was glad that I at least got a shot from a distance. You know you’re one of the few people who probably doesn’t even need photoshop. There isn’t anything to improve. Great shots as usual.
I was lucky to find this cicada before it was fully ready to fly. It held quite still for me. Thanks for the compliment about not needing Photoshop. But now that we’ve all had a discussion about it, I keep noticing flaws in my photos that I could fix by using it. It’s on my wish list now. Ironic, isn’t it? 😉 —Pam
Beautiful shots. Didn’t get in the garden today but had four little angels help me at 5pm to harvest the veggies (my friend’s children, my niece and my son). I doused them in bug spray and we went to work. Looking forward to spraying for aphids on the melons tomorrow.
I bet they love picking veggies with you. I used to help my grandfather pull carrots, and it seemed magical to me. —Pam
Love the cicada pic.
I’m envious of the rain and the cool temperatures!
Thanks, Pam. I’ll send wet-weather thoughts your way. —Pam
Love the cicada picture! I can’t help but love all this rain myself. Yesterday we had snails everywhere, the kids spent all day making snail houses and snail playscapes :).
Thanks for commenting, Carol. I’m with you—rain in summer is a Good Thing. —Pam
Allo Pam!
I am jealous of your gardening weather and . . . RAIN! Hope you are still enjoying it.
You have also inspired me to make a bottle tree – too cool! Blue-glass anything makes my heart go pitter-patter. It is stunning . . .
Yes, it’s still cool and damp today. Wonderful! I’ll send rain thoughts your way. And I’m glad to hear you’ll soon have a bottle tree too. They are an eye-catching addition to the garden. I look forward to pictures. —Pam
Everything looks wonderful, Pam – and so green. I also photographed a cicada with shell, but it’s like a crayon drawing next to your wonderful photo.
After your previous post on the white Malvaviscus, I went to check mine and found a couple in bloom – you are so right about their resemblance to confection… made me think of buttercream roses on cakes.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Mmm, yummy. The hummer in my garden certainly finds the red ones as delectable as icing. Thanks for visiting. —Pam
Oh, Pam, you ARE your Mom’s daughter… I haven’t seen such a calming, beautiful garden area since I visited hers. I loved all of your pics and your commentary. I still have a planned garden in my head and have now added a bottle tree! Take care.
Thanks, Cheryl. I like how the bottle tree idea is still being passed along from one gardener to the next. Thanks for stopping by. —Pam
I have enjoyed visiting your blog….you have a lovely garden! Summer rain is such a blessing!
Thank you, Connie. I’m glad to see on your blog that your garden received rain too. —Pam
I really enjoyed my visit this morning. Your photos and garden are inspiring.
Thanks, Marie! I’m glad you stopped by. —Pam
These are totally awesome photos! I enjoyed every one. Love the bottle tree and the metal sculptures of found art. Thanks for the tour. Oh… and that garden shed!
I do like my yard art, Bev. 🙂 Thanks for your comment. —Pam
The weather has been amazing and I’m luxuriating in it. This is the kind of summer I’ve always dreamed of. My garden is also an overgrown mess after my three weeks away. I decided to try to take one small area at a time. After all, it got along without me for three weeks; I don’t really need to tackle everything at once even though I’m inclined to try.
So much of my back yard is torn up and a muddy mess right now. I wish I could get it replanted so that the new plants could be taking advantage of this benevolent summer. Not a chance, though. As long as the weather is nice for gardeners and plants, it’s impossible for construction workers.
It’s a dreamy summer, all right. I know what you mean about the planting impulse. I succumbed today. In mid-summer. I still can’t believe it. —Pam